JPH02254852A - Picture communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To select proper recording paper format by providing a 1st recording means using a routine recording medium and a 2nd recording means using an indefinite recording medium and selecting any of the recording means in response to a prescribed characteristic of a picture to be recorded. CONSTITUTION:A recording section 6 comprising a laser beam printer or the like using cut paper and a recording section 7 comprising a thermo sensing printer using roll paper are provided in the subject equipment. A picture data decided by a decoding circuit 4 is inputted to each recording device via any of the cut paper recording section 8 and roll paper recording section 7 and in the case of selecting the the cut paper recording section 6 and the roll paper recording section 7, a CPU 1 operates the cut paper recording section 8 in the case of recording a received picture and operates the roll paper recording section 7 in the case of other data recording.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to an image communication device, and particularly to an image communication device that records and outputs information related to received images or various operating states.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, facsimile machines have used thermal printers, laser beam printers, and the like as image recording means. The former device mainly uses roll paper and cuts it to an appropriate size after recording, while the latter uses pre-cut paper of a standard size such as A4.84.

On the other hand, conventional facsimile machines usually have only one recording device, which records received images, records communication management information, and reports errors, that is, notifies users of communication reservations or the results of the communication. All records are 1
This is now done using two recording methods.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Therefore, in conventional facsimile machines, especially those that use cut paper as recording paper, all information that does not need to be recorded on cut paper is also recorded on cut paper (usually A4 or 84). It will be done. Error reports, communication reservation reports, etc. are usually short comments, and using a single sheet of A4 or B4 standard paper is extremely wasteful, leading to an increase in the running cost of recording paper, which is a consumable item.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and enable selection of an appropriate recording paper format.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an image communication device having means for recording and outputting received image data and information regarding the communication state or error state of the device. A first recording means that uses a regular-shaped recording medium as an output means and a second recording means that uses an amorphous recording medium are provided, and one of the above-mentioned recording means is used depending on the predetermined characteristics of the image to be recorded. We adopted a configuration in which images can be selectively recorded.

[Operation] According to the above configuration, image recording can be performed by selecting an appropriate recording paper from regular or irregularly shaped recording paper according to the characteristics of the image to be recorded.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on the example shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile machine showing an embodiment of the present invention. Here, the structure of an image receiving and recording system is shown, and other structures are omitted.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a CPU that controls the entire system, and is composed of a microprocessor and the like.

The received image is received from the line via the NCU 2, and is converted from an analog signal to digital data by the modem 3. The digital data output from the modem 3 is coded data called run length encoded using encoding methods such as Modify Huffman and Modify Read, and is converted into original raw data in the decoding circuit 4. Ru.

In this embodiment, there are provided a recording unit 6 including a laser beam printer using cut paper (hereinafter referred to as cut paper recording unit) 6, and a recording unit 7 including a thermal printer using roll paper (hereinafter referred to as roll paper recording unit). ing.

The image data decoded by the decoding circuit 4 is manually input to each recording mechanism via either the cut paper recording section 6 or the roll paper recording section 7. The remaining amount of recording paper loaded in the recording mechanism of the cut paper recording section 6 and the roll paper recording section 7 is as follows.
It is detected by a recording paper remaining amount detection circuit 8 consisting of a photo sensor or the like.

Selection of the cut paper recording section 6 and roll paper recording section 7 is made by the CPU.
I is performed via the recording section switching circuit 5 according to a program to be described later.

The CPU 1 instructs the recording unit switching circuit 5 to operate the cut paper recording circuit 6 for recording received images, and to operate the roll paper recording unit 7 for recording other data. The recording unit switching circuit 5 includes a multiplexer,
Alternatively, it may consist of analog switches, etc.

Further, the CPU 1 always obtains information on the presence or absence of cut paper from the recording paper remaining amount detection circuit 8, and controls the recording section so that the recording is automatically switched to the roll paper recording section 7 upon reception when there is no cut paper. Instruct the switching circuit 5.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained with reference to FIG. Figure 2 shows CPLI 1 stored in ROM1a.
3 is a flowchart showing a recording control procedure. The recording process shown in FIG. 2 is performed when receiving an image, recording communication management information, or generating an error report as exemplified in the conventional example section.

If each of the above recording processes becomes necessary, the CPU
First, in step S1, it is determined whether the mode is reception mode or not, and if it is reception mode, recording means using cut paper is selected.

In step S2, the presence or absence of cut paper is checked, and if so, the process moves to recording using cut paper. If there is no cut paper, "No cut paper is available" will be displayed on the display (not shown) in step S3.
is displayed and switches to recording using roll paper.

Furthermore, in step S4, it is determined whether or not there is roll paper, and if there is, recording is performed using thermal paper. If there is not enough thermal paper remaining, the message "No roll paper" is displayed on a display (not shown) in step S5, and it is checked again in step S6 whether the mode is reception mode or not, and if it is in reception mode, step S7 At this point, a signal is sent to the transmitting side notifying the error due to no recording paper, and the process proceeds to the next step. If it is not in the receive mode, the next process is performed as is.

According to the above embodiment, as determined in step S1, if an image is received, the cut paper recording section 6, that is, the cut paper recording mechanism is always selected, and recording is performed on the cut paper. In other cases, such as when recording an error report, the roll paper recording section 7, that is, the recording mechanism for rolled thermal paper, is selected and recording is performed using roll paper.

For this reason, for recording such as error reports that normally require only 2 to 3 lines, cut sheets are not wasted as in the past, and the running cost of the apparatus can be reduced.

The presence or absence of a cut sheet is always detected by the recording paper remaining amount detection circuit 8 by the CPU, so that if the cut sheet runs out while recording is being performed on the cut sheet during image reception, and multiple sheets of original are printed. When receiving the information, it is preferable to perform control to immediately switch to recording means using thermal paper.

This allows the second recording section (in this case, the roll paper recording section 7
Since the recording mechanism (connected to

In addition, in the above, the recording section is selected by determining whether the image to be recorded is a received image, but the recording section of cut paper or roll paper is selected based on other image characteristics, such as the number of image lines to be recorded. may be selected.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above, according to the present invention, in an image communication device having means for recording and outputting received image data and information regarding the communication state or error state of the device,
A first recording means using a regular-shaped recording medium and a second recording means using an irregular-shaped recording medium are provided as the recording output means, and one of the above-mentioned recording methods is provided according to predetermined characteristics of the image to be recorded. Since the configuration is adopted in which image recording is performed by selecting a means, it is possible to select an appropriate recording paper from regular or irregular shaped recording paper according to the characteristics of the image to be recorded, and perform image recording. This method has excellent advantages such as reducing the running cost of the apparatus by using the recording paper without wasting it, and also being able to record an image on a suitable recording paper according to the characteristics of the image.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of an image communication device employing the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of the device shown in FIG. 1...CPU 2...NCU3...
Modem 4...Decoding circuit 5...Recording section switching circuit 6...Cut paper recording section 7...Roll paper recording section 8...Remaining amount of recording paper detection circuit -, -yutsu

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) An image communication device having a means for recording and outputting received image data and information regarding a communication state or an error state of the device, a first recording means using a regular recording medium as the recording and outputting means; , an image communication device characterized in that a second recording means using an amorphous recording medium is provided, and image recording is performed by selecting one of the above-mentioned recording means according to predetermined characteristics of an image to be recorded. . 2) In the case of recording a received image, one of the recording means described above is used preferentially, and when it is detected that there is no remaining recording paper in this recording means, a different recording means is selected to perform image recording. An image communication device characterized by: